


The Nightly Hunter

by gaensebluemchen



Category: Tintenwelt-Trilogie | Inkheart Trilogy - Cornelia Funke
Genre: Gen, Vampire Hunter AU, vampire hunter!Dustfinger, vampire!Basta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2018-08-08
Packaged: 2019-06-23 21:41:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15615627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaensebluemchen/pseuds/gaensebluemchen
Summary: Dustfinger, the famous vampire hunter, makes a worrying discovery.





	The Nightly Hunter

Roxane knew that something was wrong when Dustfinger came home. Her husband always tried to hide his feelings from everyone, but Roxane saw at once that he was nervous. 

"What's wrong? You look worried," she asked. 

"Nothing..." Dustfinger sighed, but then he added, "Well, it's just a bad feeling. I told you that there had been an attack in the neighbourhood last night, didn't I? Well, the woman, Ellen, can't remember anything about the attack, but her relatives were worried when she felt weak and exhausted in the morning, and then they saw the bite marks on her neck. They called me, and when I went there to investigate, I found this." 

Dustfinger held up a red petal. Roxane froze. 

"Is it... him?" 

"I'm not sure," Dustfinger said. "It might just be a coincidence. I'll go there tonight to make sure the vampire won't feed on her again, so maybe I'll find out who it is." 

Dustfinger could understand why Roxane felt alarmed. A few years ago, she had been abducted by a vampire with a penchant for red flowers. Dustfinger had barely been able to save her. He still bore the scars that the vampire's claw-like nails had left. 

Later that day, Dustfinger prepared his equipment for tonight's hunt. Crosses, Holy Water, wooden stakes, weapons made of iron... Dustfinger was well prepared. After all, he was one of the best vampire hunters in the country – maybe even the best one. Nine years ago, he made a name for himself by killing Capricorn, an especially powerful and dangerous vampire. Since then, he had put dozens of restless souls to eternal sleep – and, more importantly, saved countless innocent ones. Killing Capricorn had brought Dustfinger the respect and admiration of the other vampire hunters, but that day, he had also made a mortal enemy. 

There was a man who had been turned into a vampire by Capricorn centuries ago and had been very attached to him ever since. His name was Basta, and he hated Dustfinger with a burning passion. Basta might not be the smartest vampire, but he was cruel and rather creative in his cruelty. Dustfinger knew this better than anyone, he had encountered Basta several times, and none of those meetings had been particularly pleasant. So far, Basta had always been able to escape Dustfinger, but he was still hoping to slay the vampire one day. 

Soft footsteps behind him informed Dustfinger that Roxane was approaching. He turned around to look at her. Roxane smiled at him, but there was no joy in that smile. 

"Be careful, yes?" 

The smile that Dustfinger returned to his wife did not reach his eyes either. 

"I will, don't worry." 

Of course she would worry. The was no guarantee that her husband would come back from his hunt. Dustfinger considered himself lucky that he had her. There were few women who would stay by his side. But Roxane was always there, even if there had been sacrifices they had to make. Rosanna and Brianna, their daughters, spend most of their time at a boarding school. It was safer for them. Dustfinger could not bear the thought that they might come to harm because of him. Basta would certainly not refrain from hurting Dustfinger's family to get his revenge, and he was not the only enemy Dustfinger had made. 

Roxane sighed. "You're acting more and more like a vampire yourself." 

She was probably right, Dustfinger thought. More often than not he was awake during the night, restlessly roaming the streets, hunting. He promised himself that he would stay home tomorrow night and spend a peaceful evening with Roxane. She meant the world to him, and he really wanted to show her how important she was to him. 

Dustfinger picked up his equipment and stood up. 

"I have to go." 

Roxane kissed him good-bye and whispered, "Please come back again" With a last smile, Dustfinger left the house. 

He arrived at Ellen's house two hours before sunset and helped her prepare the house. He could not be sure that the vampire would come back to feed on the woman again, but it was likely. Vampires generally liked to return once they found easy prey. 

"Alright, there are a few things I need to find out tonight," Dustfinger explained to the woman. 

"We don't know if the vampire convinced you to invite it in last night, or if it lured you outside. The trouble is that once a vampire was invited into a house, it can enter freely whenever it wants to. However, the crosses and hosts with which we prepared the entrances will stop it from coming inside.  
In fact, I'm more worried that the vampire might have formed a mental link to you, which it could use to manipulate you. You did not react badly to the crucifixes yourself, that's a good sign. If the vampire has any influence on you, it can't be very strong yet, because then you would show the first signs of the transformation – that means that holy imagery would hurt you. But the vampire might still be able to convince you to remove the cross from one of the windows and let it in. That's why I will keep an eye on you tonight. Don't worry, I won't let it come near you." 

Ellen nodded. She was scared, but she trusted Dustfinger. He knew what to do, he would keep her from further harm. 

They waited silently in her small and crammed bedroom for the vampire to appear again. It was after midnight when Ellen stirred and stood up. Dustfinger wanted to hold her back, but it was so dark inside the room that he did not see the small something over which he tripped. He managed to keep his balance, but that short moment was enough for Ellen to fling the crucifix from the windowsill. 

There was a small movement in the shadows. If he had not half expected it, Dustfinger would not have noticed it at all. It was as if the shadows around the windowframe became darker for a second. Then, the narrow figure of a young man stepped out of the shadows next to the window. 

It was Basta. The vampire was dressed in black, only his shirt was white and spotlessly clean. He wore a flower, as red as blood, in his buttonhole. For a moment, the vampire seemed to be surprised, then he flashed him a toothy grin. 

"Hello, Dustfinger," he purred. 

Dustfinger did not waste any time with courtesies. He held out his own cross to keep the vampire at a distance. Dustfinger had also discovered some time ago that the sight of holy imaginery prevented Basta from shape-shifting. 

"Oh, that's not nice. What do you want to do? Turn me into dust, like all the others?" Basta tried his best to keep his tone casually, but he did not take his eyes off of the wooden stakes on Dustfinger's belt. 

Dustfinger did not answer. Instead, he pulled a small bottle of Holy Water out of his coat pocket. Basta started to growl, his usually grey eyes glowing dully red. Holy Water could burn him and leave nasty wounds. Without lowering the crucifix in his other hand, Dustfinger uncorked the bottle. 

Basta hissed and leapt forward, trying to knock the bottle out of Dustfinger's hand. In his fury, he forgot about the cross. His long, sharp nails dug into the vampire hunter's skin, drawing blood. Dustfinger dropped the bottle onto the floor, but at the same moment he managed to hit Basta in the face with the cross. The vampire let out a blood-curdling scream as the cross burned his skin and left a bright red mark. With all his force, he pushed Dustfinger away from him, turned around, and leapt through the window.  
Dustfinger hurried towards the window and looked outside. He could see Basta wiping some shattered glass from his clothes, before the vampire turned into a wolf and disappeared into the night. 

With a sigh, Dustfinger turned around and looked at Ellen. 

"Well, that's not quite what I had planned..." 

"It's alright," Ellen said quietly, "But what about that mental link you talked about? He was able to manipulate me, wasn't he?" 

"Yes, but don't worry. I know a hypnotist who can help you with that. You'll have to work on your own mental barriers for a while, but after that, the vampire won't be able to control you anymore." 

Dustfinger then put a new crucifix on the windowsill. Basta did not return to Ellen's house again that night. In the morning, Dustfinger called Mortimer Folchart, the psychic and hypnotist, and made an appointment for Ellen. Then he went home. 

Dustfinger was tired, his hand still hurt where Basta had scratched him and he just wanted to go to bed when he finally reached his house. He almost did not see the red flower that was lying in front of his door like a warning. Dustfinger cursed and hurried into the house, upstairs to the bedroom, and opened the door. Roxane was lying peacefully in her bed. There were no bitemarks on her neck, no signs of an unwanted visitor. 

Dustfinger sighed in relief. The vampire had not been able to get into the house, he had only left the flower to scare Dustfinger. But the vampire hunter could not shake off the feeling that the bloom had another meaning as well: It was not over. Basta would come back again. 

Dustfinger crushed the flower between his fingers. Next time, he would not let the vampire escape that easily. But for now, he just wanted to rest.  
Dustfinger slipped underneath the blanket. In her sleep, Roxane smiled and snuggeled up to him.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own anything except for my OC Ellen.  
> This is the first time I've written an AU, it was really fun.


End file.
